The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (best short novels of all time .TXT) 📕

“That guy there, starting at zero, that’s Jacques d’Or’s son, Aubrey. It’s his first professional sigh-ride. If he finishes at first, he’ll win today! There’s a lot of pressure on him, and his father really didn’t want him to enter for obvious reasons.”

“Like?” said Cecilia, probing.

“Think about it, ding-bat.”

“Excuse meeee!” exclaimed an offended bat-face sitting next to Luke.

“I beg your pardon. I’m sorry,” Luke said sheepishly.

“Yes, well, that’s rather offensive, don’t you think?” And with that, the bat-face got up and moved seats.

Luke looked rather embarrassed but he continued despite himself.

“If over time, Aubrey doubles at fifteenth like Jasper—or worse, sixteenth—he’ll be in the sewers the rest of his life, even if his dad is the leader of the Corvus Community.”

“No wonder he wasn’t pleased. Pretty bold move by Aubrey!” said Cecilia.

“You bet! This is the most heated tournament I have ever been to!”

A mole-face in front of them with a stack of papers and a feather quill pen interrupted them.

“Did someone say ‘bet’?” he asked.

“Bingo!” said Luke.

“No, sir, that’s Tuesdays in Market Square. Today now, I’m taking bets on the Ride or Sigh competition,” said the mole-face, drily sniffing the air.

Luke and Cecilia filled with giggles and tried not to laugh.

“OK then. We would like to place a bet. We would like to bet on Aubrey to finish first,” he said, handing over a pile of buttons he, Cecilia and Jasper had pooled together.

“Excellent,” said the mole-face.

“Hold on. Are you sure?” Cecilia said, resting her hand on his wrist a moment.

“Well, what are your instincts telling you?” asked Luke. “What do you feel?”

She stared up into the cloud and let it wash over her. It seemed to be telling her something but not with words; the sighs spoke to another part of her.

Luke nudged her. “Hellloooooo? Anyone in there?”

“For some reason—and I know it’s a gamble—but they’re telling me you’re right!” she said. “Bet on Aubrey to come in first.”

“That’s settled then,” said Luke, handing over one fistful of buttons and then another. He turned to Cecilia.

“That’s an awful lot, Luke!” she added.

“Well, let’s just say, I trust your instincts… and that’s also the tip that Augustus gave Jasper!” he said confidently.

“Brilliant odds, sir,” said the mole-face.

“See,” said Luke, taking the tickets and thanking him. The mole-face wiggled his nose and shuffled off. His trousers were far too long and dragged along in the dirt.

“I’m not sure how I feel about gambling. My granny always says to stay away from that sort of thing, that it can’t lead to much good.”

“Sure,” said Luke. “But your granary isn’t here, is she?”

“Granny! Granary is a type of bread!” corrected Cecilia.

“You’re funny,” said Luke, patting her on the head. “Technically this isn’t betting, it’s life-saving!”

Madame Midnight cawed and the stadium was quieted to a murmur. A pale form cut through the sighs that were still gathering; it parted the colourful mists like water and landed high on the stage next to Madame Midnight.

“Is that…?”

“Jacques d’Or? Yeah, that’s him,” said Luke.

13Ride or Sigh

Jacques d’Or was astonishingly beautiful. Although he was quite far away, there was something captivating about him. Jacques d’Or picked up a sphere that looked like it was made of glass and held it up over his head. It was about the size of the gym ball Cecilia’s mum had at home. She had thought it was solid at first but as she watched she could see it morphing. Jacques d’Or let it go and as it floated over the crowd it grew larger and larger and larger until it looked like a giant bubble full of colourful sighs. Madame Midnight inhaled a deep breath and the audience followed suit.

“Breathe in,” whispered Luke, his warm breath tickling her ear, “and breathe out deeply with a sigh when everyone else does.”

The entire crowd sucked in all the air around the bowl and the bubble danced before them. Every last drop of air was sucked in until Cecilia’s lungs were bursting, then all together they released a sigh, bursting the bubble with a multitude of colours—a rainbow cloud—and the sigh riders were off! The sigh shot around the edges of the stadium. It was incredible to watch as the riders whizzed round on their bits of old carpet, rugs and mats of different shapes and sizes. The sigh riders tried to overtake and undertake each other. Luke pointed out to Cecilia when someone was trying to hold their place in a position as everyone, including the audience, got carried away on this magical wave of emotion. It was like a mixture of horse racing and surfing, and it reminded Cecilia of the tale of Aladdin—he had a magic carpet.

Soon a commentary began, led by a chicken-face and a monkey-face chattering and clucking away from a box at the centre of the Concave Stadium. Jasper adjusted himself in his seat, tilting his right ear towards the sound so he could get a better grasp of what was going on. It was thrilling! When the sigh died down Madame Midnight orchestrated the crowd to release a new sigh to keep the competition going. And the sighs changed colours depending on the mood of the crowd, which acted as one giant being. Every so often a competitor would be overcome with emotion and burst into fits of laughter or floods of tears, shooting out of the loop, then recover themselves and return to the race. It was a spectacle that allowed Cecilia to forget and become completely absorbed in the moment.

When the race ended Luke grabbed Cecilia and hugged her.

“We won!” he screeched. “Aubrey came in first!”

Jasper, who had been quite reserved for the whole event, danced and jumped about too. He was ecstatic.

“Ohhhhweeee!” he shouted. “Right, you two go and collect the winnings. I’ll wait here!”

Cecilia thoroughly enjoyed the competition—it seemed pretty simple to follow, but she did wonder if the repercussions were a bit harsh and she brought it up with Luke as they squeezed along